In a nutshell, regenerative farming is about working in harmony with nature. The focus is on rehabilitating and nurturing the soil that grows our food, encouraging biodiversity and ensuring that our natural resources can continue to support our needs, now and well into the future. And the results speak (and taste) for themselves.

“We coexist”

Burraduc Buffalo is a regeneratively managed dairy farm in the NSW Myall Lakes district. delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards winners Elena and Andrei Swegen are renowned for their exquisite dairy products, made from buffalo that are not separated from their calves until weaning. But the lengths the Swegens go to at their 100-acre property extend far beyond caring for their livestock. Elena has a background in soil science, and their lush pastures are proof of her careful management.

“For us, it has always been about working with the ecosystem, restoring the natural balance,” Elena says. “Not to cause damage; to fit in with the environment rather than changing it to suit.”

One important aspect to the Swegens’ methods is their approach to predators – particularly dingoes.

“We use non-lethal control,” Elena says, explaining that they do not use poisons; instead utilising guardian dogs. “At the very bottom of farming is the soil,” she says. “At the top is the predator (the dingo) who looks after the land. Because of them, we don’t have rabbits or kangaroos eating our pastures. We coexist. From the top to the bottom, it’s how the ecosystem works. We fit somewhere in the middle. If you don’t consider all the components of the ecosystem, and just take from the land and take from the soil, you’re taking from the environment, where other wild things live. You can’t compensate with artificial means.”

“Healthy soil leads to healthy plants”

The Falls Farm, in Mapleton, Queensland, has fine-dining chefs clamouring for its regeneratively grown produce, and has won many delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards. But it’s not just the taste that makes the produce so spectacular.

“Our number-one focus is soil health,” says farm manager Pedro Ramos. “We do yearly soil tests, because we’re extracting nutrients from the soil to grow food. We want to make sure we’re feeding the soil more than we’re taking from it.

“A lot of conventional farming applies fertilisers to prop up plants, but that’s terrible for the plant, because then the plant doesn’t have a relationship with the soil. It doesn’t have to work to get anything. You’re creating dumb plants. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants, which leads to healthy people. Look at, say, carrots that have been grown in a monoculture environment, with fertilisers. They get harvested, they sit in a warehouse for three weeks, then they go to a shop and sit there for a week before someone buys them. That’s a month; they’ve lost so much nutritional value. And people think they’re eating healthy.

“Unless you’re eating vegetables grown well, in healthy soil, you’re not getting everything that you think you’re getting.”

A matter of taste

Chef and delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards National Judge Jo Barrett has long been known for her commitment to sustainability. And it’s not just about preserving the planet. At Barrett’s previous restaurant, Little Picket in Victoria, all produce was sourced from nearby small-scale, sustainably run farms and gardens – for a reason.

“You notice the variance within a season from food grown in proper soil; you just don’t get that from monoculture farming,” she says. “Take a tomato – from the start of the season, then as it grows, through to end of season, it’s vastly different and can have a huge array of cooking applications. For a chef, it’s really exciting, because you get these subtle variances that have a different effect on how you should cook and prepare them, which is then passed on to the diner.”

Barrett also points out that local, regeneratively grown produce can offer a true taste of a region, and allows a restaurant to have its own unique blend of flavours: “You can actually taste where the food is coming from,” she says. “It’s the future of food and it’s the future of dining. It’s the difference between restaurants. If we lose small-scale regenerative farms, and all the restaurants and all the chefs start ordering food from one supplier, this would be horrible for dining.

“It makes a difference for the food that we put on the plate. It makes a difference for our climate. It really is so important. I’m not sure if I can stress that enough.” 

How can I find regeneratively grown food?

Your best bet is to buy produce from small-scale, local growers. Your
local farmers’ market is a great place to start. This also helps to ensure the longevity of regenerative farming.

“It’s about supporting the people who are doing the right thing, because they’re the ones who are looking after our soil and who are feeding us nutrient-dense food,” says Barrett. “If we don’t support them, they’ll disappear, and we’re not going to have that nutrition our bodies need. We don’t have to do much; they’re doing all the heavy lifting. We just need to eat right. That a consumer can have an impact just by what they eat is pretty exciting.”

Related story: 8 ways with your delicious. Harvey Norman award-winning produce